West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) leads Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) and other candidates by double digits in West Virginia’s Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
American Pulse Research and Polling, in partnership with WMOV, a local West Virginia talk radio station, found that Justice is by far the dominant candidate running to become the Mountain State’s next senator. Justice leads with 55.7 percent of likely Republican primary voters, with 22.1 percent remaining undecided, and Mooney has 19.9 percent.
The survey memo states, “Following Sen. Manchin’s decision to retire, our survey indicates Jim Justice will likely be the next U.S. Senator from West Virginia, which makes the nationwide battle for the U.S. Senate that much more competitive.”
The governor also has the highest favorability among the Senate candidates, with a 73 percent favorable impression.
“With the recent retirement announcement from Senator Joe Manchin and the strong Republican tilt of the state, Jim Justice is the catbird seat to be West Virginia’s next senator,” Dustin Olson, the lead pollster for the survey, said in a written statement.
Manchin’s retirement from the Senate has upended the map for the Democrats to retain the Senate majority.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) (Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
“After months of deliberation and long conversations with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I have set out to do for West Virginia,” Manchin said in a video statement. “I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for reelection.”
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT) said in a written statement, “We like our odds in West Virginia.”
American Pulse, in partnership with WMOV, conducted the poll of 414 likely Republican primary voters, which has a 4.8 percent margin of error, between November 13 and November 14.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
